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Friday, 20 December 2013

Owner Tan gambling with Cardiff future

Owner Tan gambling with Cardiff future

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For
a man who once operated Malaysia`s most profitable lottery and gambling
business, Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan could well be putting the
side`s Premier League future at stake with his controversial approach to
running the organisation.

Cardiff were on the brink of
administration and escaped a winding-up petition at the High Court in
2010 after settling a 1.9 million pounds tax bill shortly after the club
was taken over by Tan.

Malaysia`s ninth-richest person with a
net worth of $1.3 billion, Tan bought a controlling stake in the Welsh
club for an undisclosed sum and last season helped finance the team into
the top tier of English soccer for the first time in half a century.

Cardiff
embarked on a substantial spending spree during the European summer
transfer window, breaking their record signing fee for a player three
times, but since then the club has lurched from one public relations
disaster to another, unable to bask in the glory of competing at the
highest level.

Tan, who left school at 16 to start a career as a
bank clerk and later ventured into the insurance business, got his big
break when he purchased Malaysia`s McDonald`s franchise three decades
ago. A few years later, he bought the country`s main lottery agency.

While
the former chairman of conglomerate Berjaya Group has overseen a
successful period for the club during his tenure in the Welsh capital,
his leadership style has irked many fans.

Popular club manager
Malky Mackay has been at loggerheads with the owners and Tan has done
his best to destabilise the Scot`s position with the recent sacking of
Cardiff`s head of recruitment.

Iain
Moody, a Mackay ally, was dismissed in October with Tan claiming he had
overspent the transfer budget by 15 million pounds and replaced him
with 23-year-old Kazakh Alisher Apsalyamov, a friend of the owner`s son.

Mackay`s
future had become more uncertain when he was told by Tan that he would
not receive a "single penny" to strengthen the team during the winter
transfer window after the manager had said he was looking to sign three
new players in January.

The situation may have already reached
its denouement, however, with reports in the British media on Friday
stating that Mackay will soon be clearing his desk in South Wales after
being asked by Tan to either resign or be sacked.

A Kuala Lumpur-based representative of Tan was unreachable for comment on reports of Mackay`s ultimatum.

COLOUR CHANGE

Tan
had already antagonised die-hard Cardiff fans when he sought to
increase the club`s marketability, especially in Asia, with a decision
to change their traditional blue kit to red.

Nicknamed the
Bluebirds, having played in that colour for more than 100 years, Cardiff
have also adopted a red badge featuring a dragon.

He has
recently embarked on an initial public offerings (IPOs) spree. Tan
listed two companies this year, which raised a combined 100 million
Malaysian ringgit.

Tan is also planning to list Cardiff and
Internet payment firm MOL, owner of social networking site Friendster,
as early as 2014.

While the IPO might help make more funds
available at the club, Tan has clearly struggled to grasp the difference
between running a business and a soccer team.

He could learn a
lot from compatriot Tony Fernandes, who found out the hard way that
investment does not always gaurantee success in the Premier League.

Malaysian
aviation entrepreneur and Queens Park Rangers chairman Fernandes
admitted to making mistakes with the way the club was run after they
finished bottom of the Premier League last season despite a heavy outlay
on players and wages.

Blackburn Rovers, owned by Indian poultry
giants Venky`s, also suffered relegation after a season blighted by
administrative blunders.

Cardiff are currently 15th in the 20-team Premier League and face an in-form Liverpool side at Anfield on Saturday. --------------- ZEENEWS.com